. >> reporter: the santa clara political major voted for romney. >> i think in terms of financial the republican party has a good financial stands but fails to reach people. >> reporter: the party needs to find a new way to appeal to women and minorities. bill waland has worked on gubernatorial campaigns. >> romney did work among asian voters than he did among hispanic voters. it's a series of riddles that the republican party has disconnected so vastly. >> reporter: democrats secured the first supermajority in the legislature in decades. >> i think we need to do some soul searching. how we're doing as a party. >> reporter: from 36% of voters in 1996 to 29% this year. while the number of no party preference voters has almost doubled at the same time from 11% to 21%. >> reporter: the republican party right now is second tier status. >> i think there's a great future for the party. i don't think it was a bad night. i think what it was was an awakening. >> reporter: an awakening to reach out to more people and an opportunity to come back stronger. live in los altos, maureen naylor. >>> i